Ei-iE

The Global Union AIDS Programme is organising a two-day Labour AIDS Forum to facilitate trade union cooperation in advance of the biennial International AIDS Conference taking place in Mexico City from 3-8 August 2008.

The first round of consultation on the drafting of the ILO Recommendation on HIV/AIDS in the World of Work will soon close.

One of the highlights of the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS held in New York on 10 - 11 June was the presentation of the progress report on the implementation of the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.

Odete Cossa recently joined WHO/AFRO and will liaise with the EFAIDS Programme in sub-Saharan Africa. She provides us with an insight into her work and her perspective of the EFAIDS partnership.

Together with UNESCO and UNICEF, EI's sub-regional organisation, the Council of Pacific Educators (COPE) will be holding a conference on "Improving the Status of Teachers as per ILO-UNESCO's 1966 Recommendation and promoting Children's Rights to Quality Education".

As part of the Global Union Research Network, EI strongly supports the international masters programmes on labour studies. They offer an excellent opportunity for EI member organisations to strengthen their capacities to face the challenges of globalisation.

Six months ago, the newly elected centre-left government of Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom Caballeros started reversing the privatization of the school system. The government also introduced collective bargaining in the public sector. As a result, a few weeks ago the unions were able to sign a new collective agreement that...

On 30 June, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) launched a national strike action to press the federal government to implement the promised Teachers’ Salary Structure.

With trade ministers set to meet in Geneva the week of July 21 in what is being billed as the last ditch effort to complete the troubled WTO Doha Round of trade talks, the chair of the services negotiations has released a controversial new framework to guide the discussions.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is determined to help American educators create better opportunities for all children by improving education quality throughout the United States. He criticized the Bush administration for having failed to give teachers the means to achieve the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, which...

Farzad Kamangar could face execution in the near future, according to the web site Human Rights Activists in Iran. On 11 July, the Iranian Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty against Kamangar, a 33-year-old Kurdish teacher and trade unionist.

EI echoes the call from Public Services International to free Meryem Özsögüt. A member of the executive committee of the Health Workers Trade Union (SES), Özsögüt has been in jail for the past six months for having done nothing more than attend a press conference to denounce the killing of...

In co-operation with Public Services International, Education International will for the first time hold a session on public services and GATS at the upcoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum in September.

The convicted murderer of Argentine teacher Carlos Fuentealba has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Neuquén, the city in which he was killed during a peaceful teacher union demonstration last year.

The government of Indonesia will annually increase the education budget as well as the salaries of teachers. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made that promise to the more than 5000 delegates and observers attending the opening session of the 20th Congress of the Indonesian teachers' union PGRI held in Palembang on...

The University and College Union (UCU) is congratulating UK universities that are doing the most to combat climate change, but is still urging all universities to step up the involvement of staff and students in their efforts. The union has called for a carbon reduction strategy on every campus based...

The national campaign of intimidation against human and trade union rights activists continues even after Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for another 5-year term. This follows an election process described by the African Union as "falling short of accepted AU standards."

Late on 26 June, EI received a disturbing update from Gemoraw Kassa, General Secretary of the ETA, established in 1949 and EI Member, informing EI that the court of cassation at the Federal Supreme Court ruled against the original ETA, 26 June.